Earlier this year, we began experimenting with milling flour in-house. Suckers for punishment, we’re constantly refining our dough recipe to achieve the optimal pizza base.
After some research, we procured a beautiful, wooden stone-ground mill, hand-crafted by a family company in the small village of Dӧlsach, in the Austrian Alps.
Next, we had to source the right grain. Ideally, we wanted to source locally, which can be a little tricky given that the Irish weather conditions are not conducive to growing the right type of grain. We had heard of a company in Kilkenny that was experimenting with heritage grains so we looked them up. This turned out to be Kells Wholemeal run by the Mosse family, seventh generation millers. Fortunately, they had been successful in cultivating Olands wheat, which originated from the Swedish island of Oland. This unique grain grows well in cooler climates and has a sufficiently high protein content to produce flour strong enough for pizza-making.
Benefits
Milling flour ourselves has been great way to learn about and get the most out of our most essential ingredient.
Milling on-site means we can use the flour at its freshest, and the milling process we use results in more nutritious flour. Commercial roller milling processes involve extracting the wheat germ – the part of the grain which contains the most fibre. In contrast, the stone-ground method incorporates the wheatgerm into the flour. Also, stone-milling is cooler than roller-milling. Consequently, it retains more of the natural nutrients and flavours of the grain, making for healthier, tastier results.
Another factor is that we can reduce the amount of transport in our supply chain and improve our carbon footprint. We even joked about Brexit-proofing our supply chain! We will probably always need to import some flour. Even so, sourcing local ingredients and supporting other local businesses has always been important to us. So we are delighted to be able to use a heritage grain that is grown in Ireland.
After much experimenting, we hit on a mixture that allows us to make the most of these benefits, while ensuring consistency. We combine the flour we mill with Italian Caputo type ’00’ to make our own distinct blend.
Still, the pursuit of pizza perfection is an ongoing journey – we’ll always be learning and improving our processes.
